There’s a curious paradox brewing in the world of European sprint racing this year. While the number of top-tier sprints is on the rise, the clarity about who reigns supreme has never been murkier. With seven of the nine all-aged Group 1 sprints already run this season, the scoreboard reads like a lottery: seven different winners from seven races. If the last two events on the calendar yield new champions, it’ll mark the first time since 2023 that the division has seen nine unique victors in a single year—a scenario that’s also played out in 2021 and 2018. That’s four times in the last eight years, and it’s left many in the racing community scratching their heads.
At the heart of this unpredictability is a debate that’s gaining traction among trainers, jockeys, and fans alike. Has the growth in the number of Group 1 sprints—up from five at the dawn of the millennium to ten in 2025—actually diluted the quality of competition? Or are we simply witnessing a golden age of depth, where any talented sprinter can seize the day if conditions fall just right? Either way, the 2025 season’s results have certainly added fuel to the fire.
One horse who embodies both the resilience and the heartbreak of this topsy-turvy sprint landscape is Run To Freedom. The seven-year-old gelding, trained by the ever-patient Henry Candy, is gearing up for another shot at glory in next month’s Qipco British Champions Sprint at Ascot. For Candy and his team at Kingston Warren, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Run To Freedom has flirted with Group One success for years, coming agonizingly close but never quite getting his nose in front when it matters most.
“Run To Freedom is absolutely fine. I think he swallowed something up at Haydock during the race as he had a few coughs afterwards,” Candy explained after the gelding’s disappointing tenth-place finish in the Betfair Sprint Cup. “Whether it was just a little bit of loose grass or something like that, but whatever it was it stopped him in his tracks and that wasn’t his running.”
That Haydock run was a blip in an otherwise encouraging 2025 campaign. Earlier this summer, Run To Freedom showed he still had plenty of fire in his belly, finishing a close third at 40/1 in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai July Cup—a race in which he’d also been runner-up two years prior. His affinity for the big stage at Ascot is well documented, too. In 2022, he stunned punters by finishing second at 150/1 in the British Champions Sprint, and he followed that up with a solid fifth in last year’s renewal.
“He loves an uphill finish. He loves Newmarket and he loves Ascot so we will have a crack at the Champions Sprint back at Ascot again,” Candy continued. “He has run well in that race before and it would be wonderful if he could just win one of these big sprint races as he has been trying for a long time.”
It’s hard not to root for a horse like Run To Freedom, who keeps coming back for more, year after year, against the best sprinters Europe has to offer. His story is one of perseverance and near-misses, but also of a trainer’s unwavering belief in his charge. Candy’s calm, measured approach has served both horse and connections well, and the hope is that Ascot’s uphill finish—so often the undoing of lesser stayers—will play to Run To Freedom’s strengths.
But Run To Freedom’s quest for Group One glory is just one thread in a much larger tapestry. The unpredictability of this year’s sprint division has thrown up a host of surprise results. Take Time For Sandals, who shocked the field at Royal Ascot and is now fancied for day four at Glorious Goodwood. Or the fact that, with the going now turning against fast-ground horses, we could see even more unexpected names etched into the record books before the season is out.
What’s driving this carousel of winners? Some point to the sheer volume of elite sprints now on the calendar. Where once there were just five opportunities for Europe’s top sprinters to shine, now there are double that number. The expansion has given more horses a shot at Group One glory, but it’s also made it harder for any single star to dominate the division. As one racing analyst put it, “They could just as well be numbers in a National Lottery draw.”
Others argue that the talent pool is simply deeper than ever, with trainers and owners targeting specific races that best suit their horses’ unique attributes. The days of a single equine superstar sweeping all before them—think of the likes of Black Caviar or Dayjur—seem to be fading into memory, replaced by a more democratic, if less headline-grabbing, era.
Meanwhile, the increase in Group 1 sprints has also raised questions about the sport’s direction. Is quantity really a substitute for quality? Some traditionalists worry that the proliferation of top-level races is eroding the prestige of each individual event. Yet for trainers like Henry Candy and horses like Run To Freedom, the expanded calendar offers more chances to chase that elusive big win. It’s a double-edged sword, and the debate is unlikely to be settled any time soon.
As the 2025 season hurtles toward its climax, all eyes will be on Ascot and the Qipco British Champions Sprint. Will Run To Freedom finally break his Group One duck, or will another new name join the growing list of unique winners? One thing’s for sure: in a year where surprises have become the norm, nobody is taking anything for granted.
For now, the only certainty is uncertainty itself. With two Group 1 sprints left and the field as open as ever, the race for sprinting supremacy is wide open. And as Henry Candy and his team prepare for another crack at the big time, fans of the sport can only watch, wait, and wonder—who will seize the moment next?
